The Emoticon Generation (5 page)

Five minutes later, it was exactly 21:00 in New York. She’d made up her mind not to say that she was
his
child, but
Olivia’s
child. She’ll see how it goes from there.

She sat in front of the screen. Steve was just entering his apartment.

She dialed: sound only – he wouldn’t be able to see her. One ring. Two rings. He answered, “Hello?” His voice was different from what she had imagined. But it was warm. It was nice.

“Hi. Is this Steve? Doctor Steve Caspi?”

“Yes, yes it is. Who is this?”

“My... Uh... My name is Glynis.” Don’t tell him her full name yet, he might know who Glynis Hatch is. “Ah... Do you mind if we switch to vid?”

“Absolutely not. Switching.” The PubliCam’s image was immediately replaced with a close-up of his face. Good looking.

“Omigod!” he said, obviously reacting to her face, and her heart sank. “You’re on that
grainy
tv thing, what we used to call ‘color’ or actually—what was it?—pixels! I haven’t seen one in more than a decade!”

“Yes, I know. Technology hasn’t reached my humble home.” He was friendly. She was friendly right back at him.

“Technology?! This is like talking to someone in black and white! I didn’t know they made pixel-based televisions anymore! Anyway, I didn’t mean to insult you. How can I help you, young woman?”

“Um... Do you remember an... Olivia...” – she almost hung up; no going back after this –”...Hatch?”

His smile cracked – just a bit. It was enough for Glynis to fight mounting panic. “Yes, I do,” he said, his tone more serious.

“Well, I’m—I’m... Glynis... Hatch. I’m...”

“Related?” he finished her sentence.

“Well, yes.”

“Let’s see,” he tried to think. “The name sounds familiar, but I can’t immediately place it. Glynis Hatch, Glynis... Hmm, Olivia had a brother, and when I knew him he had one son and one daughter... She was called... Um... Barbara.” He was back to being friendly. “But she was five last time I saw her which was ages ago. And you’re a bit on the young side. So I probably missed your birth or something,” he flashed a smile. He was treating her like an old acquaintance. “Are you Thomas’ kid?”

“No, I’m not.”

Steve waited for a few seconds for her to elaborate. When she didn’t, he said, “Okay. So, how can I help you?”

“Well, I, uh, I heard that—I mean, I—”

“Wait a minute, I know why the name’s familiar! You have the same name as Olivia’s ex—” And suddenly he froze. His face tight, the smile gone, he looked at her eyes right through the screen, “Who
are
you?”

“I—I—I don’t understand the question.”

“You’re a relative, you said!” he snapped. “Who
are
you?”

Tears were forming in the corner of her eyes. There was so much anger in his voice. Too much anger. He was angry at her from thirteen years ago. “I... I’m Olivia’s daughter.”

He put his hand to his forehead.

“Um...” her heart pounded, but she said it, and there was a hint of pleading in her voice. “Do you know me?”

“I... don’t know. That depends on who you are.” He shut his eyes, and said, “How... old... are you, Glynis?”

More tears fighting to get out. “Thirteen.”

“I’m bad with numbers. That means you were born... when?”

“Two thousand and six.”

Steve Caspi put his hand to his mouth, and stared at the screen. For a long while he said nothing. “I don’t believe it,” he whispered. “I don’t believe it. Oh! Pixel-based tv! Dear lord! The woman is crazy!” He held his head in his hands. Without looking at her, his voice a vicious whisper, he asked, “Did she tell you to call me? Is this a prank?”

“No! No!!” She could no longer stop the tears and began to sob. “She doesn’t know I called you. And please don’t tell her. She doesn’t even know I know who you are.”

He calmed himself with great effort, and, avoiding looking at her eyes, said, “How... How is it you’re talking to me, then? How is it that I can see you?”

“I’m connected to the Net,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing. Who
wasn’t
connected? What was it with grownups from the last century?

But apparently for Steve it wasn’t obvious. “You’re... connected... to the...
Net
?!” He repeated as if the concept could not be grasped. “The woman is out of her
MIND
!” He lowered his eyes. “She probably thought it was funny,” he mumbled to himself.

The crying stopped, although the tears kept rolling. Whatever Steve was going through, it didn’t feel like it had to do with her. Not with all this weird talk about the Net and pixels and Olivia being crazy.

“Uh... Steve...”

“Or ironic,” he didn’t notice. “What was going through her damned
mind
!”

“Mr. Caspi!”

He sighed, and looked at her with sad, pity-filled eyes. “Why did you call me, Glynis?”

She took a deep breath and choked a sob, “For one thing, I... wanted to ask if you know me.”

“Yes, I know you, Glynis,” he said in the calmest of voices. “I was there when you were... born.” The last word did not come easily to him. Then he looked straight at her, sadness in his eyes: “Do
you
know you, Glynis?”

Something in the way he asked the question made her almost jump out of her chair. But she answered it just the same, steering it in the right direction. “I know that Olivia is my mother. And I
think
that you’re my father.”

He was taken aback, but only for a second. “I’m not your father, Glynis,” he said in his sad voice. And then a glint in his eye led to anger, “Did Olivia tell you that?”

“No, no, I swear! She never even mentioned your name!” She bit her lip. That might have been the wrongest thing to say! “I mean, I mean, she said my father is someone called Jonathan Hatch.”

He let out a small, wry laugh in spite of himself.

“You knew him?”

“For a while.”

“
Is
he my father?”

“That—that—that—” he began to stammer, “that depends how you define ‘father’.”

“I mean, is he my biological father?”

“That depends how you define ‘biological’.” He suddenly waved his hand. “I’m kidding. I’m sorry, Glynis. Yes, he’s your biological father. But I don’t want to talk about him. Not without Olivia’s consent. And probably not even with it.”

Oh, no! Not him, too! What was it with her father?!

Her voice made of iron, she said, “Is he the same Jonathan Hatch who’s also Olivia’s father?”

“Glynis, I’m sorry; I can’t talk to you.”

“Oh, please! Mother doesn’t let anyone talk about him. She can’t be controlling you, not after all these years!” It was dirty, but it might work.

“No, no, Glynis. It’s not that. It’s just... It’s just that I used to have a—” his voice cracked “—a soft spot for you, Glynis. I’ve tried so hard to get you out of my mind. It took me years. And for the last few years I actually walked around in the world as if you weren’t in it. Glynis... I can’t talk to you. It hurts too much. Now, I have to go and pick someone from the airport.” He put his hand above the ‘disconnect’ button.

“No! Please, no!”

“Glynis,” there was despair in his eyes. “I have to go.”

“But—But—Please, call me back!” (Her phone number was at the bottom of the screen.) “Or—”

“Glynis...”

“I need to talk to someone. And mom never talks about anything, and you know so much about us, and you’re such a nice person, and it
would
be nice if you did turn out to be my father.”

“Glynis. I am not your father.”

“Can you be my friend, then? I mean... I have no friends.”

Steve shut his eyes. “I know you don’t,” he whispered.

“Can we talk again, Mr. Caspi?”

For a long while, he did not move, his fingers shutting his eyes tight. Finally, he looked at her, and there were tears in his eyes, “God damn you, you’re so grown up now.”

“Can I call you, again, Mr. Caspi? Can we talk?”

“Yes,” he said. “We can talk again.”

Glynis Cheshire-smiled.

“One thing,” he said. “She’s going to have a fit if she finds out about this. Let’s keep this between us for the time being, okay? Let’s... Let’s not tell her.”

“Okay,” she nodded enthusiastically.

“Keep in mind that this means I can’t call you. Because she’ll know about it. So let’s have you call me.”

“You’re saying she monitors my phones?”

“I don’t want to talk about that, Gly—” He sighed. “Yeah, yeah. You’re intelligent, damn you. Yes, Glynis, she monitors your phones. She probably doesn’t listen to all outgoing conversations, but she’s sure to at least check all incoming calls.”

“How do you know this? Maybe things have changed since—”

“I have to go. Call me some other time, okay? We’ll... talk.”

“Good. Bye.”

He turned off the phone. Glynis immediately switched to the PubliCam view of his window. Steve was coming right to the window, his hands on the pane, his breath short.

“Olivia... Olivia... What have you done?” the AdLip program jumped into action. The voice was now unfamiliar to Glynis, so different from his real voice. “She’s a person now. She’s intelligent. She... She cries, for god’s sakes! Oh, god, Olivia, I told you this would happen. I told you...”

For five minutes, he looked out at the city, and tears slowly fell down his cheeks. Finally, he straightened and faced the wall, where the phone was, his profile to the window.

“Phone,” AdLip dubbed. “Instructions. If the last caller calls again, play the following recording. Begin. Glynis, I’m sorry. I thought it over. I can’t talk to you. Phone, end recording. Phone, do not inform me of any calls from this caller. Delete all records of her calls.” He then pressed a few buttons, took a bag, shut the lights, and left the apartment.

Glynis stared at the empty apartment, and did nothing. Her face fell, her heart sank, and her world became black.

After a few minutes, she asked her phone to call him. She saw the message, his face filling the screen, saying the message in his own voice. The message having played itself out, his phone then cut the connection. She called again, and this time saved his message. Once disconnected, she played the message again and again and again. She played it about twenty times before she heard her mother’s car in the driveway. She immediately ran to the bathroom to wash her face.

“Glynis!” her mother called. “Are you decent? We have company!”

‘Company’? Meaning not Ron or Elizabeth? We never have company!

“Just a minute!” She shouted, as she ran from the bathroom to the door, slamming the door behind her. “Just a minute!” She was already dressed, but she had forgotten to turn off the computer – and Steve’s frozen face from his phone message was still on it. Her hand hovered above the ‘off’ button, when, despite everything that’s happened, she decided that it was not over. She quickly programmed ISpy to monitor Steve from the time he had left the apartment, a few moments ago, and to do so on the Net. She then turned off the computer and was about to open the door.

She stopped. “I’m coming!” she yelled, as she ran to the window of her room and looked outside. Only her mother’s car was parked in front of the house. So whoever this ‘company’ is, s/he must’ve gotten a ride from mom.

She straightened her clothes, wiped her eyes, put on a smile, and went to the living room.

Her mother was waiting there with a small, bearded man, probably in his sixties.

“Hi, honey,” Olivia hugged her, and then gestured towards the man. “This is Professor Von Strauss, he’s one of the most important theoretical psychologists in the world today, if not the most important. He’s come to the Institute to see my research, and I suggested he come and have dinner with us. Charles, this is my daughter, Glynis.” She shot a look at Glynis, “Say ‘hi’!”

“Hi,” Glynis smiled hesitantly.

The man seemed thunderstruck. “You are... Glynis?” He said in a heavy German accent.

“Shake hands!” Olivia ordered.

Von Strauss offered his hand. Glynis shook it. He laughed nervously, then pulled it back.

“Can she understand everything I say?”

“Of course she can, don’t be ridiculous,” Olivia answered quickly.

“Can she do math?”

“She’s right in front of you, why don’t you ask
her
.”

“What’s six times seven?” he immediately turned to Glynis.

Glynis looked at her mother. Who
is
this nutcase? Olivia shrugged.

“It’s forty-two,” Glynis answered and immediately asked, “What’s the square root of 2222?”

“I—Uh...”

Glynis turned to her mother, “He can’t do math.” Olivia laughed.

“See that as a warning, Charles. Not only can she do math, but she can embarrass our guests, too. Now, look,” she put her hand around Glynis, “the fact that she has a condition that prevents her from going to school doesn’t mean she’s backwards in any way. Me and the computer, and sometimes Ron, we teach her math, literature, history, science – everything. In fact, we just finished reading ‘The Merchant of Venice’. And tests show that she’s smarter than I was at that age.”

“Really?” the Professor was impressed.

“Really. So enough of these questions. Glynis is as normal as you or I.”

“I... I... I have one request,” he said. “I... uh... I would like to see her tonsils.”

Glynis looked at Olivia, who said, “Charles, you’re embarrassing me.”

“Please,” he said. “Her tonsils.”

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, until Olivia finally said to Glynis. “Say ‘ah’.”

“What?!”

“Humor him,” Olivia waved her hand dismissively. “He’s old and senile.” Professor Von Strauss gave her a stunned look. “Behave like that,” she told him, “and that’s what people are going to say.” And to Glynis, “Humor him.”

Glynis said ‘ah’, and the Professor peered in.

“Amazing,” he said. (Later, Glynis snuck to the bathroom and looked down her own throat, to see if her tonsils were red or something. Everything seemed fine.)

“Yeah, yeah,” Olivia said. “She has eyes, she has hands, organs, dimensions, senses. She eats food. Prick her, she’ll bleed. Tickle her,” she sent a quick hand to Glynis’ armpit, and Glynis doubled over, “she’ll laugh. Poison her, she’ll die.”